American Idol: Top 12 Men Sixties Suck-o-rama

Question: Why does a show accused of growing stale kick off its actual competition with a 60s night theme? Hard to prove fresh and relevant in that case.

Well, we're off and running and for the most part, the guys failed to knock my socks off. What did you think?

Here are my thoughts:

Songs: In the Midnight Hour

Rants & raves: First one out of the gate is never easy but David Hernandez did pretty good. He has a nice gospel quality to his voice that defies his look. I think he could have been a bit more energetic in his performance, but I'll chalk that up to nerves.

More Today Than Yesterday

Well he's already dropped his last name which has got to be a good sign for his career. After all, Madonna and Cher have successfully maneuvered through life with just their first names. Chikeze lived it up on 60s night, dressing the part with a bright orange suit. Unfortunately, the whole thing came off as a rather boring lounge singer performance.

Happy Together

He had good energy during his performance, but I'm still not convinced this was a great song to rock out to.

Moon River

I'm giving out points for great song choice.
I love "Moon River," though Yeager is not doing much to gain other new fans for the song. The band arrangement is cheesy and does the beautiful song no favors.

One

This performance didn't blow me away. This is
a great song, but a prime example of one that is hard to update because the singers that made it famous also made it insanely recognizable and resistant to change.

Shop Around

I couldn't help but wait for some background dancers or cheerleaders or something to pop onstage with David
Archuleta during his performance. I expected Simon to categorize it as too "Hairspray" or "High School Musical" but Archuleta is clearly an early favorite. While I enjoyed the song, it, too was a good example of the pitfalls of 60s night. Still, Archuleta's enthusiasm is immensely likable. He'll go far.

Jailhouse Rock

Elvis was a bold choice for this little guy.It was an energetic performance, but I sensed some nervousness in it. Danny Noriega's vocals lacked the spark of earlier performances.

Everybody's Talkin'

I want to like Luke Menard. For one, he has Orlando Bloom's eyes - eyes that I could stare at for a long time.
Unfortunately, this song was boring. He was too low key and it came off as bad muzak.

Suspicious Minds

I thought this was a good song choice for him. He clearly loved it and passed that love along in his performance.
That said, I want the stylists to fix his hair and soon.

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Take a cue from past opening nights and do a slow song only if you're going to blow it out of the park. Your first
performance should be memorable and high energy. This was neither, though maybe he should get points for looking like the most authentic 60s singer.

Daydream

Oooh he has lovely eyes too. I'm not a big dreadlocks fan but those eyes and that guitar were a lovely combo. He
kind of had a John Mayer thing going on in this performance. It was my favorite of the night.

Light My Fire

Great song choice - especially if you can work the stage as Michael Johns did. Good job.

Top performances: David Archuleta, Jason Castro, Michael Johns

Most likely to go home: Luke Menard, Chikeze, Garret Haley

TELL US: Do you have a favorite performance from last night? Who's going home?

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